KINGSLAYER

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Her smile turned frosty. "Are you cranky because you had to babysit my betrothed as he lamented my absence?"

"On the contrary. I believe he actually threw a party to celebrate."

"Which you did not attend because you were too busy lamenting my absence." She nodded. "I see now."

Alexander picked a cobweb off the elbow of his shirt and flicked it at her. "What is there to miss about you? Surely not that winning personality of yours."

"My looks, then."

He was caught between making a sarcastic comment or an insult, which made neither come out. He was quiet a beat too long. "Ah." Jaylah's brows rose. "We finally found a redeeming quality: my ability to render you speechless."

She made a show of tilting her head, peering through her lashes in a coy way that made Alexander's heartbeat stutter. "I wonder what you like best about me, Khan. My mouth, perhaps? Do not think I overlook how often your eyes flick down."

"Only because I wonder what masculinity-shredding comment is going to come out of there next," Alexander said with ease, though he felt the immense need to back further down the passage to gather himself before she spoke like that again. "Also, what was that? Did you catch something in the Southern Isles?"

Shrugging, she shifted into her standard haughty self again. "You talk in that manner all the time. I wanted to see if it is as satisfying as you make it seem."

He absolutely did not seductively bat his eyelashes like that. "It's only satisfying when I do it because you get uneasy."

If she was any less grandiose, she would have given him a rude gesture. "Your imbecility exhausts me. I am going to retire for the night." She flicked her braids away as she reached for the candle.

"Don't. You're the only person here that doesn't bore me to death." He was not stupid; he knew what she was really doing. So he would keep her talking as she was doing to him. Still, the slow way she turned around made him regret saying it.

"And what would you like to talk about?"

"Tell me about the Southern Isles. Do they really have those lizards that can change to a completely different color?"

She blinked in surprise. "Yes. They call them chameleons. I only saw one as we were marching back to the dock, but it was a lovely shade of azure. Did you know their eyes can move independently?"

"Really? You should have brought me one as a present after all the trouble I've gone to for you."

"Now that the land is an official state of mine, I can have whatever you desire shipped over." Her eyes narrowed, casting triangles over her cheekbones. "Only if you behave yourself, that is."

"You keep me on too tight a leash, Imperatrix. Let loose a little."

"The last time I let loose, you blew up an entire city block. Consider yourself lucky you were not caught." Then her face lit up a bit. "I forgot to tell you. We were able to see the Floating Towers from the palace." From Alexander's face, she gleaned he hadn't the foggiest clue of what she meant. "The chunks of the island that float through open space, defying all we know of nature's rules?"

"I thought they only had those in Tilana. And I thought they were only a legend."

"No. Down south too." Jaylah shook her head, braids swinging. "It was so odd to see them remaining in the air like that. The people had even built a few bridges to walk from island to island to harvest coconuts from the trees atop them." She stopped. "What."

Alexander simply smiled and clutched his folded arms closer to his chest. "You're never in this good a mood with me so I fear you're not in your right mind. Do you need me to insult you again?"

Her expression turned more serious and it seemed she was thinking of something that bothered her. "With you, sometimes it..." Her lips pursed. "Never mind."

"Now you've made me curious. What is it?" He racked his brain for all possible answers to that question, most of them self-indulgent.

She just shook her head, looking away as if she did not like whatever realization she'd just come to. Alexander tilted his chin up a bit. "Now who made who speechless?"

"That does not count."

"Look at me: fully clothed, barely even visible in the darkness, and you still stutter over your words."

"Your humiliation tactics do not work on a woman like me."

"I don't only try to humiliate you. Perhaps I was trying to entice you this time."

She cracked a wry smile, and Alexander was glad her serious spell had passed. "Okay, thank the Hounds I have high self-confidence, because frankly the mocking smile is a bit of an insult—"

At that, she let out a real laugh before she fought it down again. Alexander packed the sound of it away to remember for later.

This was just business, Alexander reminded himself. He had made the ice queen smile and laugh. It was progress. Yes, he knew she was doing this all simply because she feared the sheer damage he could do against her if he had reason to. So he would play a little game of his own. He would win her over. It would be that much easier to complete his mission.